Once On This Island (NYC) NYC Reviews and Tickets

"A ravishing revival...A pastiche Caribbean score whose words are restrained and delicately rhymed but whose music is relentlessly grabby and emotional...Arden has aced every theatrical trick he’s torn from the ancient handbook, freshening the show, and the tricks, in the process...The hallmark ingenuity, warmth, and intensity bordering on excess that characterize Arden’s style is recapitulated everywhere within the production, from the frankly stupendous singing to the electric choreography."
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"After seeing the imaginative and dynamic 'Once on This Island,' you may feel that once is not enough...'Once on This Island' is patchy in parts. Its best-known songs bring down the house, but there are also languors. And the central story of female sacrifice and degradation is treated as more inspirational than it actually is. But it is hard to imagine a better account of the show than the one that Arden and his team have assembled. It sings, dances, and conjures up a storm."
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“A vivid, celebratory revival...If only the story itself were a better one...While the score has some standout numbers, it feels largely generic...Arden’s production, though, is striking proof that a play, or a musical, can be more than the sum of its parts. Working with an inspired design team, an excellent choreographer (Camille A. Brown), and an all-around stellar cast, Arden has created a sparkling firework of a show that consistently transcends its own source material.”
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"A joyful hymn to community and resilience...Together with his resourceful design team and cast of expressive, vocally gifted performers, Arden has approached the piece with the nurturing hand it requires—striking a balance between child-like story theater and folkloric ritual...Demonstrates an impressive leap in maturity and creative vision for Arden...While the early scenes flirt with a whimsical quality that might easily turn cloying, the dramatic integrity of the piece prevails."
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"The tale is as timely as ever...The four gods are all crowdpleasers with standout moments...But, while Salonga is undoubtedly the biggest Broadway draw of the bunch, her performance is overshadowed by Newell, whose energetic 'Mama Will Provide' is a highlight...Ti Moune’s sweetness and naiveté mixes with Kilgore’s killer pipes and dance moves for a dynamite performance filled with heart...Nothing feels rushed. It’s island time, after all, and it’s filled with joy."
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"An uplifting revival...The ungainly in-the-round stage of Broadway’s Circle in the Square is put to imaginative use...Ahrens and Flaherty, a well-matched team, produced more than twenty songs for this musical. Besides being perfectly lovely, they also advance the narrative in ways rarely seen...A sequence of dramatic songs – from 'Waiting for Life to Begin' through the heartbreaking 'Forever Yours' – take Ti Moune on the journey of love.
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"This production is on first impression, immediately involving...If this is myth, it is weak stuff, its power and mystery insisted upon but not felt. If it means to offer a moral lesson, it is even weaker...Why then do we tell this story? Maybe because it makes us feel morally sensitive without the labor of being so...But Ti Moune is strong only because she doesn’t mind being a victim. Little about this love is admirable, and its self-sacrifice is unconvincing."
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"A smashing revival...Arden’s exuberant staging conjures a spell that is devastatingly timely yet affectingly timeless...Much of the show’s charm derives from its seamless interweaving of narrative, song, and dance...A confident, swinging cast is blessed with showcase numbers...Kilgore, like this revival itself, is no imitation but a triumph in her own right, striking exactly the right balance between innocence and spirituality, youth and experience. She’s just wonderful."
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